Destined
by Ryeloza
Summary: Was life really supposed to turn out this way? The question leads the sisters and their children on an exploration of the past, present and future that will turn all of their lives upsidedown. This will be a follow up to the events of Alone, Eternally.
1. Prologue

**A/n: **This story, in part, will deal with the lives of the Charmed Ones' children. Now, I know that _Charmed_ ended by establishing that each sister has three children, including Paige's "Henry Jr," but I had such a clear picture in my mind of their futures that I simply couldn't give my ideas up for canon provided in the last five minutes of the series. So I'm pretty much ignoring the child situation that the show established.

The situations with Paige, Piper and Phoebe's children will reveal themselves as time goes on, so if there is any confusion, it should be cleared up soon.

I hope you enjoy.

_Katie_

**Setting:** March 2028; Halliwell manor; after Wyatt and Chris have come back from the past following the events of the episode, "Forever Charmed"

**Destined**

By: Ryeloza

**Prologue**

"I can't believe you called him Uncle Coop in front of the _entire_ family."

"What?" said Meli, snapping the Book of Shadows shut and glaring at her brothers. "You saw Uncle Coop?"

"I couldn't help it!" said Wyatt, completely ignoring Meli. "It was an instinct. You know how it is. Besides, you were the one who was just itching to tell Aunt Phoebe to go for it, remember?"

Chris shook his head threw his hands into the air. "You're such a liar. _You_ were the one who wanted to tell her. I could sense it."

"I could sense it from _you_."

"No–"

"Yeah, I could–"

"Oh my God!" said Meli. She stepped in between her brothers and stretched out her arms as if to restrain them, despite the fact that the gesture wouldn't really do anything to stop them if they truly wanted to go at it. "Shut up with the Whitelighter crap!" she said. Wyatt and Chris scowled at each other over her head, but both stepped back and put more distance between them. "Now, who wants to tell me just what the hell happened after you so kindly left me behind."

Wyatt and Chris both shrugged their shoulders, refusing to look at either each other or her.

"Come on, guys!" whined Meli as though she were six again instead of twenty. "I'm the one who's home on spring break. You two wouldn't even let me go on one little trip to the past with you and now you won't tell me what happened while you were there. You're treating me like a little kid."

"Mom said you weren't allowed to time travel anymore after what happened last time," said Chris. "Remember?"

"I was sixteen!" said Meli. "I'm an adult now. I can do what I want. Besides, Mom isn't even here! Now where'd you go?"

"I don't know exactly what year it was," said Wyatt. He looked over at Chris and raised an eyebrow. "2005?"

"No, it must have been 2006," said Chris. "That's when Dad was missing, wasn't it?"

"All right," said Wyatt. "2006. And nothing big happened, Mel. We went, explained that my powers had disappeared, and then Mom, Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige fixed it. The end."

"But you saw Uncle Coop?" said Meli, not willing to let the matter go so easily.

"Yeah, we saw him," said Wyatt.

"Don't go blabbing that to Nora, though," said Chris.

"'Don't go blabbing that to Nora,'" mimicked Meli. She rolled her eyes. "I haven't seen Nora in two years. You know that."

Chris shrugged. "Doesn't mean you haven't talked to her."

"Okay, you two," said Wyatt, interfering before the fight could escalate. "No one is going to tell Nora anything, right? And for all intents and purposes, no one is going to tell Aunt Phoebe or Lena either."

"Yeah," said Chris and Meli sullenly.

"Good," said Wyatt. "Then we're agreed."

They stood in silence for a moment, but just when Wyatt moved to put away the potion ingredients they'd been using earlier, Meli spoke again. "So you didn't tell anyone what's going to happen?"

"Other than Wyatt's little faux pas?" asked Chris. "No."

"You know we couldn't have, Mel," said Wyatt. "Who knows what would have happened. Nora and Lena might not have even been born."

"I know," said Meli. "But I can't help thinking that things could have been...different."

"You mean that Nora might not have run away?"

"Yeah."

"You can't always change the past," said Chris.

"Yeah," Wyatt agreed. "Some things are just meant to be."

"Right," said Meli, sitting down on the sofa. "Some things. Have you noticed that the 'some things' that are meant to be always seem to involve death?"

Wyatt and Chris exchanged glances.

Meli shrugged. "Just an observation." And she lay down on the couch, tapping a fingernail against her front teeth and trying to ignore the increasingly persistent doubts she was having about destiny.


	2. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Setting: **March 2028.

**Chapter One - Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

"I don't want to do this," said Piper for the tenth time in the past hour. "Why do we have to do this? What is the point?"

Leo didn't take his eyes off of the road, but for the tenth time since they're gotten in the car he silently thanked whatever higher power had persuaded Piper to hand over the car keys this morning. In her current state of mind, she was in no position to drive. "Phoebe asked us to," said Leo. "And you know she believes in this, even if you don't."

_We don't_, his mind corrected.

Piper, who he felt practically lived in his head after so many years of marriage, said, "Oh, don't act like this is something you believe in, mister. You don't like being on the therapist's couch any more than I do, so don't pretend otherwise."

"I'm not pretending," said Leo. "I just think that we should make the best of the situation and try to remember that this is all for Phoebe."

"Family therapy," muttered Piper. "With a magical therapist. Where did Phoebe find this quack anyhow?"

"Yellow pages?" joked Leo.

"Ha," said Piper. "Very amusing."

For over three years Phoebe had been attending therapy sessions with a certified psychiatrist who also happened to be a fellow witch. While Leo was sure this made for more honest sessions than Phoebe would have found with any other doctor, he still didn't think that this type of therapy could be all that helpful. In his experience, analyzing your problems with a perfect stranger wasn't going to do you too much good. Phoebe never understood this.

"You used to be a Whitelighter," she'd say. "Isn't that all about getting perfect strangers to talk out their problems with you?"

"It's not the same thing," he'd argue. "Those problems are necessary in the here and now kind of way. Talking them out is to overcome the obstacle in order to be able to fulfill your destiny. It has nothing to do with reaching back to your childhood and blaming your parents or using vocabulary tools or whatever else it is that those people do..."

And so the argument would continue. Paige preferred to stay out of the matter completely, though Leo was pretty sure she saw both sides of the argument. After all, she had been to therapy after her parents had died and AA had been another type of group therapy for her. But he also knew that she didn't subscribe to the type of mumbo-jumbo therapy that involved overanalyzing your entire life.

Of course, the truth was that it had been Paige who had recommended this to Phoebe; more for Lena and Nora than Phoebe herself. Nora had refused to go at all and Lena had gone only a handful of times before quitting. Phoebe had loved it and declared to all of them that it was exactly what she had needed for years.

So Leo had reluctantly conceded that perhaps therapy was good for some people.

Some people didn't include himself.

Two weeks ago, Phoebe had dropped by the manor to ask him and Piper if they would be willing to attend a therapy session with her. "Annelise asked that you come," Phoebe had said. "Paige and Henry too."

Piper had hemmed and hawed over it, but finally agreed. Now, it appeared, she was regretting her admission.

"I know this has been hard for Phoebe," Piper said, "but is it really necessary to get the entire family involved? I mean, isn't this about Coop? I could understand her bringing Nora and Lena..." She trailed off reluctantly.

"I don't know," said Leo. "I guess we'll find out."

Piper sighed and leaned back in her seat, clearly still out of sorts. Both he and Piper had wanted to be at home this afternoon; Meli was coming home for spring break and neither of them had seen her since Christmas. Chris had offered to pick her up at the airport and Leo only hoped that nothing happened to distract him.

"This is it," said Piper, perking up and leaning to the right. "That building right there."

Leo pulled into the parking lot and swung the car into the nearest spot. A few spots away he could see Phoebe's small Toyota.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No," said Piper. And she opened the door and exited the car.

* * *

"Annelise, this is my sister Piper and her husband Leo."

Leo smiled at the young doctor in front of him, sticking out his hand to shake hers. She had a lot of curly red hair piled on top of her head and glasses that gave her an owlish complexion and clashed somewhat with her large, toothy smile. "I've heard so much about you both," she said releasing Leo's hand and gesturing for them to sit on the wide couch.

"Great," said Piper as she let Leo's hand on the small of her back guide her to the couch.

"Wha-" the doctor began to ask only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Reinforcements are here," Leo whispered in Piper's ear. She gave him a small smile and settled herself close to him so their legs were touching.

"Sorry we're late," he heard Paige say as she entered the room. "Are we late?"

"Piper and Leo just got here," said Phoebe, and Leo wasn't sure if that was an affirmative answer to Paige's question or not.

Paige came up behind him and dropped her left hand on the back of the couch. "Hey guys," she said.

The doctor greeted Paige and Henry with the same toothy smile she'd given Leo and Piper. "I'm Annelise Hudson," she said sticking out her hand again.

"Paige," said Paige. "This is my husband, Henry."

"Nice to meet you," said Henry.

"Oh, please, sit down, sit down," said the doctor. Paige stepped past Leo and Piper and sat herself next to Piper on the couch. Henry sat down on her other side and Phoebe folded herself into a large chair catty-corner to the couch. The doctor leaned back against her desk and tapped a pen against her front teeth as she stared at each of them.

"Do you all know why I asked Phoebe to invite you here today?"

Piper opened her mouth, Leo was certain to make a snarky comment, but was preempted by Paige elbowing her in the side. "No, we don't," said Paige.

"Well," said the doctor, "I had Phoebe bring you here today because she has something to ask you. We thought it would be easier if I was with her."

"Since when do you need moral support to talk to your family?" asked Piper, completely ignoring the doctor and focusing entirely on Phoebe.

"Piper, please don't interrupt," said the doctor. She smiled again as though to reassure Piper, but Leo was fairly sure it was just adding fuel to the fire. "Phoebe," she continued, all the while grinning at Piper, "would you like to tell your family why you asked them here?"

Phoebe nodded, her eyes entirely focused on her hands clasped in her lap. "I've been coming to therapy for three years now," she said, "and Annelise has helped me make a lot of progress with problems I've been having for years." She paused and glanced up at the doctor for a moment. The woman had finally turned her focus away from Piper and now stared intently at Phoebe, encouraging her with a nod of her head. "But there's one thing that Annelise thinks is very important for me to do in order to feel complete." Phoebe took a deep breath and finally at them directly. "Have any of you heard of a destiny quest?"

Leo felt as though he'd been doused with a bucket of cold water. A destiny quest? She couldn't be serious.

"Leo?" asked Phoebe, clearly reading his thoughts on his face. The others turned to look at him.

"Yes," said Leo, "I've heard of people completing a destiny quest before."

"What is it?" asked Paige.

"You cast a spell," said Leo, "and go back into your past as an observer. But you can also make changes and see how your destiny could have played out differently. None of the changes are permanent, but I've never seen anyone come back the same."

"It's not dangerous," said Phoebe.

"Says who?" asked Leo. "You can't change the past and if you go looking to you're just going to screw around with your mind in ways you might not be able to handle."

Phoebe opened her mouth to parry back, but before she could, Henry said, "Hold on a second. Can someone explain to me how it is possible that a destiny could be different? Isn't destiny all about things being predetermined?"

To Leo's surprise, it was Piper who answered the question in a small, tight voice that didn't seem to be hers. "Well that's the real point, isn't it?" she asked. "To see if what has happened really is destiny or if we could have changed it all somehow. Right, Phoebe?"

"Exactly," said Phoebe. "And Annelise thinks-"

"So what can of worms are you looking to open up exactly?" asked Piper. The fury was barely concealed in her voice. "Do you want to see if Mom was meant to die? Or Prue? Or do you just want to see once and for all if you should have ended up with Cole?"

"Piper, you don't understand," said Phoebe. "I need-"

"Alright," said Piper, standing up. "_You_ need. So _you_ go ahead and do it. I want nothing to do with this."

"Piper," said Annelise, "your support is extremely important to Phoebe. In fact, she wanted to know if you and your sister would also like-"

Leo shook his head sharply and stood up next to his wife. "I think we've heard enough," he said. He stared at Phoebe for a moment; her eyes were tearing up, but he felt no sympathy for her. Piper had been through more than enough tears and struggles and her share of guilt regarding so many things. For the life of him he couldn't imagine why Phoebe would want to drag Piper back into it now.

"Come on, honey," he said so softly only Piper could hear, and without another word they left the office.


	3. Stuck in the Middle

**A/n (10/22/06):** Just a quick note here. This chapter references another story I wrote ("Some Days"), but it is not necessary to read that story to understand this.

**Setting: **March 2028.

**Chapter Two - Stuck in the Middle**

"Well I saw that coming," said Henry softly as the door shut behind Piper and Leo.

"Shh!" hissed Paige, although she privately agreed. She couldn't understand why Phoebe was gawping at the door as if she couldn't comprehend the fact that Piper and Leo had just stormed out. From the moment the word "destiny" had been muttered, Paige had known that this therapy session would end disastrously. Piper had too many issues built up over years of trials and Paige couldn't imagine for a minute why Phoebe had thought this was a good idea.

"I don't understand," said Phoebe, dropping down onto the couch next to Paige. "I mean, I guess I could understand Piper's reaction, but not Leo's."

"He's protecting Piper," said Paige.

"I know," said Phoebe, "but I still thought he'd be on my side. I mean, he came up with the idea for you to go back in time and see that your parents' deaths weren't your fault. And this isn't even as dangerous as that trip was."

Paige sighed. She had expected that memory to come up, but she still wasn't quite prepared for hearing the actual words. "I don't think it's the same," she said, trying to look at the situation objectively. "I mean, there weren't so many variables in that situation and Leo was positive that what happened wasn't my fault. With this...destiny quest thing...I don't know. What if Piper went back and saw that there was some way she could have prevented Prue's death? She would not be able to handle that."

"A destiny quest is meant to reaffirm one's destiny," said Annelise. "It is not meant to bring doubt."

"Can you guarantee that?" asked Paige.

Annelise furrowed her brow. "Well nothing is a _guarantee_," she said.

"That's what I thought," said Paige.

"Look, Phoebe," said Henry, "couldn't you just do this by yourself? You don't need Piper and Paige to do it, do you?"

"Annelise thinks that it would be better if we all did it, since our destinies are so closely tied together. We are the Charmed Ones."

Paige nodded, seeing Phoebe's point. "That makes sense," she said. "But there is no way you'll get Piper to agree to it."

"What about you, Paige?" asked Phoebe. She turned to face Paige on the couch. "Maybe if we approached Piper together..."

Paige shrugged. "I'd do it for you if you really wanted, Pheebs. But I'm pretty happy with my life and I'm not dying to have my destiny reaffirmed. And I'm not exactly eager to pressure Piper into this either."

Phoebe opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Henry cut in.

"I think Paige is right about Piper," he said. "I know that I haven't known her as long as you, Phoebe, but twenty-two years is still a pretty long time. Do you remember what Piper was like when Leo was gone? Or how about when the kids went missing? I love Piper, but I don't think that she's entirely emotionally stable."

"But that's why I think a destiny quest would help her," said Phoebe. "Piper is holding on to too much guilt and resentment. That's why she can't handle things. If she could just see that things happened the way they were meant to then I think she'd be a lot happier."

"All right," said Paige, letting out a small sigh. "I will talk to Piper for you. But you have to promise me that you won't pressure her and that if she still says no that you will let this go."

"I promise," said Phoebe. "I swear on my life."

"Okay," said Paige.

* * *

The drive home was quiet, but Paige wasn't entirely surprised. She knew her husband very well, and she was almost positive that he was slightly annoyed that she hadn't just told Phoebe to give up. Over the years he'd developed an overprotective older brother relationship with Piper. Paige thought that this was the result of a combination of events that all began the night she and Henry had found Piper crying in a closet. That had been over twenty-two years ago during the several months Leo had been taken away from the family, but she could still remember the night clearly. Henry had been highly disturbed by the fact that Piper was an emotional wreck. He had confessed to Paige later that Piper reminded him of his little sister, who had killed herself when she was only fifteen. After that night with Piper, he had always showed a great deal of concern that she was all right. 

Paige had always thought that this was a blessing, since it balanced her similar relationship with Leo.

But despite any of their relationships to one another, she was still Piper's sister, and Henry had to recognize that she knew what she was doing.

"I'll be careful with Piper," she said. "You know that she'll be more willing to hear me out than she will Phoebe right now anyway."

"I know, Paige," said Henry. He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it. "And I wasn't thinking about Piper's well-being. Well, at least not at the moment."

"You weren't?" asked Paige, somewhat surprised.

"No," said Henry. "I was thinking about the fact that for as long as I've known you, you seem to be stuck playing peacemaker between your sisters. And I think you're amazing for putting up with it for all these years."

"Oh," said Paige softly.

"I love you, Paige. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do," said Paige. "And you know that I love you back." She said it as a statement, but a question was implied.

"Always," said Henry. "Always."

* * *

"Wil! I. Need. The. Car. Tonight." 

Paige shut the front door and smiled at her husband. "Oh how I've missed this," she said.

"Yeah, sure," said Henry.

"I need the car too, Ellie. And I was home a whole forty-eight hours before you, so I think I called it first."

"Ugh!" came the disgruntled cry of Paige's only daughter. "I hate you sometimes!"

"Hello, children," said Henry as they came into the kitchen. "I see you're getting along quite nicely."

"Dad, tell Ellie that I need the car tonight."

"No way! I need the car!"

"Okay, guys, chill out," said Paige, setting her purse on the counter and leaning back against it with her arms folded across her chest. "This is the first time all four of us have been together since Christmas and I don't want to hear fighting the whole time."

"Well then tell your son that he's being unreasonable," said Ellie.

"All right, you two," said Henry, sounding slightly annoyed. "What's going on with the car? Who is going where with whom?"

"David, Marilinda, Julia and I are going to the movies," said Wil, "and I already told them that I could drive."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "But I already made plans with Lena to go to Ursula's and you know that Lena hates to drive unless she absolutely has to."

Henry looked at Paige and Paige shrugged. "I could always orb over to Piper's tonight," she said.

"Does that mean we can each have a car?" asked Wil hopefully.

"Yes," said Henry. "You can each have a car."

"Thank you," said Wil, and he grabbed an apple and walked out of the kitchen.

"I love you guys," said Ellie, giving Henry a big hug and then skipping out of the kitchen after her brother. "Hey Wil," Paige heard her call, "do you want to play Nintendo?"

Paige smiled as Henry let out a small groan and ran a hand through his hair. "Only two more months until they're home for the summer," she said.

"I can't wait," said Henry. And Paige knew that he meant it.

* * *

She orbed over to the manor after dinner and found Piper fuming around the kitchen making brownies. Her sister didn't even seem surprised at her sudden appearance, simply batting Paige's hand away when she reached to stick her finger into the batter. 

"Still recovering from this afternoon, I see," said Paige, jumping up onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. Sometimes, sitting in the kitchen of the manor playing peacemaker between her sisters, she felt twenty-seven again instead of fifty.

"She just drives me crazy," said Piper, picking up the bowl and stirring the batter vehemently. "I swear that she doesn't have a brain in her head sometimes."

Paige shrugged. "She didn't mean to hurt you," she said. "I was talking to her after you left and she is honestly convinced that this destiny quest will be therapy for _both_ of you."

"I don't need therapy," said Piper.

"Of course not," Paige lied. "But maybe it would give you some sense of peace about some of the things that have happened in the past."

"Or not," said Piper, not quite so angrily. She sighed and put the bowl down on the counter. "I just...I don't want to reopen old wounds," she said.

"I understand that completely," said Paige. "But are you sure the wounds ever closed?"

Piper stared at her and didn't respond. Paige nodded.

"Do you need some help with those brownies?" she asked.


	4. Harebrained Schemes are up her Alley

**A/n (10/23/06):** This is just a short transitional chapter. I also wanted to mention that this story will be a companion to my other story, "Alone, Eternally." It is not necessary to read "Alone, Eternally," but for anyone who has or will read it, this story will explain what happens after "Alone, Eternally" ended. In other words, Cole will appear eventually.

**Setting: **March 2028.

**Chapter Three - Harebrained Schemes are Right up her Alley**

Chris was honestly not too skilled with his Whitelighter powers. He was his mother's son, and therefore was extremely adept at witchcraft, but the other half of his genetics seemed to be lacking. In twenty-three years he had never healed anyone, and while orbing came fairly naturally, the ability to sense his family wasn't on par with Wyatt's or Aunt Paige's. Despite this, however, his mother's bad mood penetrated his thoughts the moment she entered the house. Chris looked at Wyatt over Meli's head and Wyatt groaned.

"What?" said Meli.

"Mom and Dad are home," said Chris.

"And neither of them are in a good mood," added Wyatt.

Meli shrugged. "Didn't you say they were going to therapy with Aunt Phoebe? I'm not exactly surprised." She paused the movie they were watching in the boys' room and stood up. "I'm still going to say hello," she said. "I haven't seen them in two months."

"Don't mention our trip to the past, okay, Mel?" said Chris.

Meli rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Chris. I already said I wouldn't." And she left the room, not bothering the shut the door behind her.

"So," said Wyatt, "how long until Aunt Paige shows up to try to straighten things out between Mom and Aunt Phoebe?"

Chris smiled halfheartedly. For as long as he could remember Mom and Aunt Phoebe would get into tiffs that Aunt Paige always ended up bridging. Mom claimed that she used to be the peacemaker in the family, but Chris couldn't quite believe her.

"By tonight," said Chris.

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. "I think tomorrow," he said. "Mom's too pissed. Aunt Paige will give her a night to cool down."

"Want to bet?"

Wyatt paused for a moment and then said, "No. Not really."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Wyatt wordlessly orbed an inflatable volleyball over and they began to play telekinetic basketball with it. Over the years Chris had gotten very good at telekinetically blocking Wyatt's shots, which used to be hard to predict because Wyatt used telekinetic orbing to move the ball. By the time Meli came back into the room, Chris was winning five to three. Just as he was about to score again, Meli froze the ball and simply grinned at them when they glared at her for interrupting.

"You'll never guess why Mom and Dad are so pissed off," she said.

"Aunt Phoebe's therapist said Mom had issues," guessed Chris, not particularly enthralled by the latest family fight.

"No," said Meli. "Aunt Phoebe wants Mom to go on something called a destiny quest with her and Aunt Paige."

"What's a destiny quest?" asked Wyatt.

Meli shrugged. "I didn't really get all of the details because it was in midst Mom's ranting, but apparently it involves going back to your past to observe things that have happened and see if everything turned out the way it was supposed to."

"Yeah, that sounds like something that would piss Mom off," said Chris. Across the room the ball unfroze and dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

"I think it sounds awesome," said Meli, flopping down onto the futon. "I mean, you could totally review choices you made and see if they were the right ones. That's so cool."

"But what if they were the wrong choices?" asked Wyatt.

"If it's destiny it would be the right choice," said Meli. "I would love to do this. It would totally prove whether destiny exists once and for all. Plus, this kind of thing might help convince Nora to come home."

"Don't go there, Mel," cautioned Wyatt. "If Mom doesn't want to do this, you certainly won't."

"I'm twenty years old, Wyatt. I think I can decide for myself."

"So are you going to tell Mom?" asked Wyatt.

"No..." said Meli.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Come on, guys," said Chris, bringing the ball back over to his lap and throwing it lightly from hand to hand. "Drop it, okay?"

Meli narrowed her eyes at him for a moment but listened, and Wyatt picked up the remote and pressed play again. Chris privately hoped that Meli was just going to let this go, but he had a feeling that she'd started formulating a plan in her mind already. Uncle Coop's death had been harder on her than on him or Wyatt, mostly because it had fallen to Meli, at only fifteen, to keep Nora from jumping off the deep end. Sometimes Chris thought Meli still blamed herself for Nora running away, though she'd never come out and actually admitted her feelings. Chris thought it was absurd; Nora had run away because her father's death had completely screwed both her and her mother up, making it impossible for them to get along. There was no way Meli could have prevented it.

Secretly, he really wished that Nora would grow up, come home and apologize that way everyone could finally move on with their lives. But she had been gone nearly three years. What were the chances that she would come home any time soon, destiny quest or no destiny quest? He thought Meli might realize this eventually.

Of course, if Meli really was dead set on doing this thing, Chris wasn't going to stop her. Once in a blue moon her schemes actually did work out.

So who was he to prevent her when there was always a small chance that it might heal the family?


End file.
